


A Bond Problem

by mythireandfire



Category: Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: Angst, Dragon Age AU, F/M, Fluff, Gen, I guess???, I hate tagging gah, Love, Pining, Pre-Origins, Tamlen survives, Warden Tamlen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-08
Updated: 2015-11-08
Packaged: 2018-04-30 14:43:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,866
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5167691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mythireandfire/pseuds/mythireandfire
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tamlen has a discussion with Mahariel after he discovers that a fellow clan mate has intention on her. Pre-Origins.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Bond Problem

Mara saw Tamlen striding towards her through the steam of the tanning vat. She frowned at him and wiped the sweat from her brow. "What are you doing here? I thought you were supposed to be out hunting?"

"I got back early." Tamlen said, stalking up to her. He grabbed her arm and began pulling her away from her work.

"What are you doing?" She hissed through her teeth, glancing around to make sure no one was watching. "If I don't finish these leathers by the time Master Ilen returns he'll have _my_ hide for one of his new sets of armor!"

"It will only take a moment. No one will even realize you're gone."

"Tamlen..."

"Please, lethallan."

The pleading in his voice made her stop short and nod her head reluctantly. "Alright, but this better be important for me to risk Ilen's anger.”

He just tugged on her to follow and made impatient noises so she let him lead her away from her work, though she transferred his grip from her arm to his hand and laced her fingers with his. Tamlen squeezed her hand in a deathgrip, and while it didn’t hurt it made her nervous. His movements were jerky and erratic, proving that he was in a state of agitation and Mara had no doubt that she was about to find out the cause of it.

They didn’t go far—just out of hearing and eyeshot from the rest of the clan—to a stand of giant, ancient trees. Tamlen released her hand and began pacing in a space between the trees. Mara ignored him and went to lean against the mossy bark of an old oak, crossing her arms and relaxing herself in an effort to lend Tamlen some of the calm she was feeling. She let him pace in the relative silence of the forest long enough that it became clear that she would have to be the one to get him talking—and that was usually his job.

“Are you going to tell me what has gotten you so upset?”

Tamlen glanced at her quickly and then away, his pacing picking up speed. “I’m not upset.”

Mara snorted lightly. “Clearly not. You’re just wearing a line in the ground for the fun of it.”

He stopped abruptly. “I went hunting with Fenharel.”

“Yes, I knew that. Did you manage to get a kill?”

“No, but he did. Fen managed to catch two rams.” Tamlen raked a hand through his hair in his unease and began to take a step to restart his pacing but stopped himself.

“Soo,” she said slowly, drawing the word out. “You’re angry because Fen managed some kills and you didn’t?”

“The only reason I didn’t get anything from the hunt is because Fenharel…told me something the night before we left that distracted me.”

Mara watched him cautiously. “What is it that he told you?”

Tamlen let out a long breath and turned his blue eyes on her face. “He said he was going to ask you to be his bond mate.”

Mara drew in a sharp breath of surprise, and suddenly Tamlen’s agitation clicked into place and made sense. She felt her own irritation at the fellow hunter for even thinking of the notion of them being together. But she paused before immediately saying that she wouldn’t accept the offer.

If she were to bond with anyone it would be with Tamlen, but they had never discussed it. In fact, Mara thought uneasily, they had never admitted much to each other when it came to feelings. There had been touches, a caress of hands, embraces that lingered on longer than with what was given with others. The realization that while Tamlen is who she wanted, but Tamlen might not want her, left her unsettled with a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach.

Tamlen turned his back to her and she could see the stiffness in his shoulders through the light tunic that he wore. She could see him fighting to control his breathing as he clenched and unclenched his fists.

“He would make a good mate…a good husband.”

Mara stared at the back of Tamlen’s head as his words sank in. The nausea in her stomach ratcheted up into fear, but she forced herself to play along. “Yes, he would make a good bond mate.”

The muscles in his arms tightened. “Fenharel is a good hunter, one of the best in the clan,” Tamlen forced out. “He’d be able to provide for you easily.”

“It is known that Fen is a decent hunter,” she nodded, though Tamlen didn’t see her. “He’s also kind, loyal, patient, and a good friend. Desirable traits to look for in a mate.” Mara paused. As she watched Tamlen it was abundantly clear that he was upset about this…and that gave her hope. She decided to play a hunch. “He would give me strong children.”

Tamlen spun on his heel, his nostrils flaring and his eyes wide with anger. And fear. Mara saw the fear in his eyes and she felt herself start to relax. He didn’t want her to bond with Fenharel—he was just being a fool.

“All those things are true,” she said as she pushed off the tree and ambled up to Tamlen. Mara tilted her head and studied the white line of Tamlen’s clenched jaw. “So I’m sure some day he will make an elvhen woman very happy. Just not me.”

There was a moment of silence as Tamlen processed her words. “You mean…you’re going to say no?”

“Of course, felasil.”

Relief flooded Tamlen’s eyes and a wide grin bloomed across his face. “You’ll break his heart.”

“He’ll live.” She looked over his face for any signs of the agitation he displayed when he first dragged her out to the forest. “It really bothered you didn’t it? Fen telling you that I was going to bond with him?”

Tamlen’s smile faltered. “He just said he was going to ask you, not that you were going to.”

“No, I know Fen,” she said, snagging one of Tamlen’s hands. “I was right when I said Fen is kind, but he’s also over-confident. He would have made you think that he’d already asked and I was considering his offer and on the verge of accepting.”

Tamlen stared at her. “Were you following us on the hunt?”

“So I’m right?” Mara laughed and then quieted. She looked down at the hand she held and frowned in thought. “You were trying to convince me to bond with him. Why?”

Tamlen turned his gaze to the forest floor and grimaced. “I wanted what I thought would be best for you.”

“And you think that Fenharel is best for me?”

“No. Yes. I…don’t know.” He rubbed the back of his neck and glanced up with a bashful smile on his face. He said quietly, “I messed up didn’t I?”

Mara grinned at him and brushed her fingers across his cheek. Tamlen’s eyes fluttered close at the touch, so she laid her hand fully across his face and he leaned into it. “Maybe a little, but no more than usual.”

He made a contented noise at the back of his throat and she felt him fully relax under her touch, the stiffness in his shoulders fading and he swayed a bit on his feet. She felt herself warm at the sight of him happy and untroubled.

“You know, this does bring about the question of _whom_ I am going to bond with.”

Tamlen’s eyes snapped open.

“Because I do want to, eventually,” she continued, fighting back a smile at the look on his face. “I would like to share the rest of my days with someone. To hunt with, to love, and maybe—someday—have children.”

“Would you now?” Tamlen asked in a wry voice once the shock wore off. He slipped my hand from his face and held both of my hands in his. “I suppose you have someone in mind?”

“You could say that.” Mara said with a sweet smile.

“And who is the poor elf that you have chosen to bond with?”

“Oh now I can’t tell you—that’s no fun. You’ll have to guess.”

Tamlen’s blue eyes darkened. “I think I have a guess,” he responded in a low voice.

He took a step closer to where their bodies were almost touching and laid a hand on her hip. He released her hands and they fell limply to her sides, his fingers gliding over the soft skin of her shoulder to trail up her neck and rest in her hair. Mara’s heart was beating frantically in her chest at the nearness, her brain going blank as she felt Tamlen’s breath skirt across her face.

The closeness itself wasn’t new. Tamlen and she had sat and slept next to each other for years, but it was always in the company of others. There were stolen brushes of hands against hands, a quick kiss to the cheek, but here—alone under the boughs of the trees and away from watchful eyes of the clan mates—Tamlen’s touch held an intimacy that had Mara chasing after her breaths.

“Lethallan,” he murmured, his thumb stroking her cheek and then his lips following the path. Mara gasped at the contact, her skin burning under his lips.

“Mara,” Tamlen breathed, resting his forehead against hers to where his mouth brushed against her parted lips. “Mara, if you would have it, I would call you vhe—“

_“MARA!”_

The shout was like an electric shock that had them both leaping away from each other like startled cats. Mara bent over with her hands on her knees to try catch her breath and still her panicked heart. Tamlen had a hand on his waist and the other covered his face, but it couldn’t hide the curves of the wide grin on his lips or the scarlet blush that traveled over his neck and painted the tips of his ears.

“Merrill!” Mara gasped out angrily. “Creators, you nearly scared me half to death!”

The First scrambled through the brush towards them and she looked flustered. “Well then Master Ilen will scare you to death fully if you don’t get back to work. He’s looking for you right now!” She grabbed Mara’s arm and began to tug on her. “I can only cover for you for so long, you know. You’re lucky he didn’t spot you and Tamlen leaving like I did!”

“But—“ Mara started and turned back to Tamlen, only to find him by her side already.

“C’mon, then lethallan,” he said happily. “I’ll take the blame for Master Ilen’s wrath, considering it’s my fault he’s angry in the first place.”

They began hurrying back to the camp, but not before Tamlen slid his hand into her’s and brought the back of her hand up to brush a kiss across her knuckles. Mara smiled, enjoying the feel of his calloused hand in hers.

She thought of his last words that he didn’t get to finish, and hoped that he would utter them again because _Yes,_ she thought, _I’d have you call me vhenan, ma’lath._

 

**Author's Note:**

> The name Fenharel is a legit clan memember in the Sabrae clan that makes an appearance in Origins and DA2; not some random elf that I named after the Dread Wolf. Credit for the elvish goes to FenxShiral.


End file.
